‘Rin Tin Tin’ Is A Book For Dog Lovers, Film Fans & History BuffsBy Barbara MurphyContributing Writer Attention dog lovers, film fans and history buffs. I’ve got a really good book for you! It’s Susan Orlean’s “Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend.” Rin Tin Tin is of course first and foremost is the story of one of the most famous dogs that ever lived. That in itself makes the book irresistible. But Rin Tin Tin is also about movies and TV shows and the people who make them, and the ways society has changed since Rin Tin Tin — or I should say the first Rin Tin Tin, because we are talking about a dynasty here — was born in 1918 on a battlefield in France. The site was Meuse Valley, which Ms. Orlean, a staff writer for the New Yorker and the author of several previous books, describes as “the hot center” of World War I in 1918, a place where blistering poisonous gas filled the air, casualties were “almost medieval,” “villages were pounded to a muddy pulp” and “death was everywhere.” Rin Tin Tin, his four litter mates and his mother, were rescued by an American soldier named Lee Duncan from a shattered kennel for military dogs. Lee, as the author identifies him throughout the book, had to step over scores of dogs killed by artillery shells to reach the mother and her puppies. Like most military dogs of the time, the dogs were German shepherds, a new breed developed in 1899 by a German cavalry officer named Max von Stephanitz. Ms. Orlean devotes much of her book to the history of the German shepherd and the use of animals in the military. The latter is not a pretty story. A fascinating section of the book describes Adolf Hitler’s great affection for German shepherds and animals in general. Yes, says Ms. Orlean, Der Fuhrer was an animal lover and he compelled all Germans to follow his example. On the other hand, as we well known, the Nazi affection for animals did not extend to humankind. Ms. Orlean tells us that Lee considered himself a lucky man from the moment he found the puppies and he thought about that luck when it came to naming the two he adopted, Rin Tin Tin and Nanette. At that time, in France the most popular good luck charm was a pair of dolls named Rin Tin Tin and Nanette. No one knows the origin of the name Rin Tin Tin but it probably derived from the chorus of a children’s song: “Rin Tin Tin, Rin Tin Tin, Rin Tin Tin.” After finding a home for the mother and the other pups, Lee left France with Rin Tin Tin and Nanette. Lee loved the dogs, particularly Rin Tin Tin, more than life itself. The love he gave and got from them helped him cope with the awful memories of his loveless childhood when pets were taken from him and killed and at one point he was placed in an orphanage. Lee spent so much time and love training Rin Tin Tin (Nanette was assigned to motherhood duty) that when Lee got the chance to get the dog into the movies — then silent and black and white — Rin Tin Tin was ready. The dog’s films were an enormous success and very soon Rin Tin Tin was world famous. These Rin Tin Tin movies, of which sadly only a handful survive, were intended to advance, through the character of a dog, the moral message that the greatest virtues are steadfastness, loyalty and courage. A dignified and noble looking dog, if not a beautiful one, Rin Tin Tin convinced audiences that he was the embodiment of all the virtues his films extolled. Like the films’ audiences, Lee also believed that Rin Tin Tin was a paragon of virtue — and immortal as well. Lee was fond of saying that there “will always be a Rin Tin Tin.” In a way, he was right. Though the dog Lee found in France died in 1932, Rin Tin Tin lives on through his scores of descendants and through his spirit, which inspired Lee and others to make Rin Tin Tin immortal in the public mind. In a way, he already was. Condolences on the great dog’s death came from all over the world. One man wrote to Lee: “Allow to me to say I love you, because I loved and still shall love your Dog... By you and by his many friends like myself he shall still live. Rin Tin Tin can never die... He was one of God’s spiritual ideas, especially endowed.” Another letter writer stated: “I have had the gratification of shaking hands with more than one president of the United States, but all of this I would gladly forgo if I could have said that I had stroked the head of Rin Tin Tin.” Ms. Orlean writes that “it is hard to imagine this kind of reaction today to the death of any actor, let alone an animal actor.” She continues, “Did movies simply mean more in 1932? Or was this response particular to Rin Tin Tin.... [stemming from] the innocent belief in a hero, the hope that one silent, strong and loyal being might have the capacity to be great.” Ms. Orlean goes on to describe in great and fascinating detail how Rin Tin Tin’s sons, grandsons and great grandsons (along with some other German shepherds who had the appearance and intelligence of Rin Tin Tin) were successful performers on television and even on the stage. Lee was greatly pleased that Rin Tin Tin was a TV success, but what he wanted most of all was to have a film made telling the real story of Rin Tin Tin and Lee Duncan. Though Lee and others after him worked tirelessly to make Lee’s dream come true, the film was never made — or at least has not yet been made. I finished Ms. Orlean’s riveting book with two emotions — intense regret that I have never seen a Rin Tin Tin film and the fervent hope that someday someone somehow will make the movie that Lee Duncan wanted to make. (Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, by Susan Orlean, published by Simon and Schuster, NY NY, 2011, 324 pages).

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